Cancer patients’ ‘nest’

THIS design is typical of the rich imaginative mind of the celebrity architect Daniel Libeskind that may soon become an eye-catching building in the grounds of the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.

The cancer charity Maggie’s has unveiled this model of what will be their latest drop-in centre for cancer patients.

I met Libeskind, a flamboyant figure in the world of architects, when he opened his only London building, a steel-clad postgraduate centre at the London Metro­politan University in Holloway Road.

A fast talker and completely at ease with his audience, he was a bit of spellbinder.

Architect Daniel Libeskind. Photo: Ishmael Orendain

Born in a Polish-Jewish family in Poland, he soon took to the world stage in architecture designing, among others, the Jewish Museum in Berlin and, as the master plan architect, the new World Trade Center in New York.

Victoria Todd, director of Maggie’s Cancerkin Centre, said of Libeskind’s Hampstead design: “This is a stunning building. To me, it is like a nest – a warm and nurturing place of refuge for anyone affected by cancer, a place to feel safe in.”

The building – scheduled for completion in 2020 – will be located in the car park behind the Rowland Hill entrance of the hospital and comes with landscaping and a roof terrace.